Miss ’em Aggies

The official attendance at Friday’s NCAA Southwest Regional semifinals was listed at 14,566, though it appeared there were far fewer on site by the time the tipoff rolled around for the second game, Virginia Commonwealth vs. Florida State.

Indeed, the empty patches were most evident on some of the television shots, which depending on the angle showcased large swaths of vacant blue seats in the background.

The low crowd numbers hammered home to officials again the cost of the absence of either Texas A&M or Notre Dame in the four-team block that arrived this week at San Antonio.

For example, when the Aggies played Memphis in the regional semifinals at the Alamodome in 2007, a crowd of more than 26,000 was on hand.

“Way up in the upper deck,” Susan Blackwood, executive director of San Antonio Sports, recalled today. “They’re such a big draw.”

Blackwood is a Nebraska native who has ties to the University of Texas, but admits, “(Aggies fans) come out of the woodwork at all levels. I’d have to rank them at the top of all the fan bases I’ve worked with.”

Officials note, however, that the San Antonio regionals fan numbers this year rank very favorably in comparison to the other three sites. The New Orleans regional, for example, drew an announced crowd of only 12,320 for Thursday games involving Butler, Wisconsin, Florida and Brigham Young.